Artemiev, Niemann share lead @ World Rapid Doha
Russian Grandmaster Vladislav Artemiev playing under FIDE flag, scalped World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen on way to sharing the lead with American Grandmaster Hans Moke Niemann after the ninth round of the Euros 1 million FIDE Rapid & Blitz Championships 2025 at Doha. GMs Artemiev & Niemann led with 7.5 points followed by GMs Magnus Carlsen, Alexey Sarana, Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus, Nodirbek Abdusattorov at 7.0 points. Further half a point behind at 6.5 points were world champion Gukesh Dommaraju & world cup winner Javokhir Sindarov among others.
Five times world rapid champion Magnus Carlsen recovered from the mid round defeat finishing just half a point behind Artemiev and Niemann. Starting the day with a draw against former world blitz champion Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, the Norwegian went down to GM Vladislav Artemiev in a shaky start for the second day. But wins in the remaining two rounds against GMs Shant Sargsyan and Ray Robson eased the loss a bit taking the favorite just behind the leaders. Making the news of the day was the pushing away of the persistent photographer who trailed Mount Magnus after his 7th round slide.
Uncertainty is the order of the day as top seeds Nepomniachtchi, Firouzja, Caruana et al find themselves playing in lower boards, as unexpected draws peg them down. Final four rounds will be a free-for-all when podium finish takes priority over the rest.
Key pairings (Round 10): Carlsen – Sarana, Niemann – Artemiev, Abdusattorovo – Erdogmus, MVL – Gukesh, Erigaisi – Sevian, Magsoodloo – Mamedyarov. Day two of the rapid championships starts on Monday, 28th December by 6 AM ET / 12:00 CET / 4:30 PM IST.
Rank (Round 9): 1-2 Artemiev, Niemann 7.5, 3-6 Magnus Carlsen, Alexey Sarana, Erdogmus Yagiz Kaan, Nodirbek Abdusattorov 7.0, 7-10 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Erigaisi Arjun, Henrique Villagra Cristobal, Rauf Mamedov 6.5 (247 players).
Vladislav Artemiev (2727) – Magnus Carlsen (2824) 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 c6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 b6 7. cxd5 exd5 8. Bd3 Be7 9. O-O Bb7 10. e4 dxe4 11. Nxe4 O-O 12. Ne5 Nxe5 13. dxe5 Nxe4 14. Bxe4 h6 15. e6 Qc7 16. exf7+ Rxf7 17. Bd5 Rf8 18. Bxh6 Bd6 19. Bxf7+ Rxf7 20. Qg6 Bxh2+ 21. Kh1 Be5 22. Rae1 c5 23. f4 Bd6 24. Re8+ Bf8 25. Rd1 Rf6 26. Rdd8 Bxg2+ 27. Qxg2 Rxh6+ 28. Kg1 Rf6 29. Qd5+
28…Kh7 1-0
Gukesh Dommaraju (2692) – Nodirbek Abdusattorov (2717) 1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 c5 3. Bg2 Nf6 4. O-O g6 5. c4 Bg7 6. d4 cxd4 7. Nxd4 O-O 8. cxd5 Nxd5 9. Nb3 Nb4 10. Nc3 N8c6 11. Bf4 Bf5 12. a3 Na6 13. Rc1 Rc8 14. Na4 Qe8 15. e4 Be6 16. Nbc5 Rd8 17. Qe1 Nd4 18. Kh1 b6 19. Nxa6 Qxa4 20. Nb4 Bg4 21. Nd5 Be2 22. Nxe7+ Kh8 23. Rg1 Qb5 24. Qb4 Qxb4 25. axb4 Nf3 26. Nc6 Rc8 27. Nxa7 Ra8 28. Rc7 Nxg1 29. Kxg1 g5 30. Bd6 Rad8 31. e5 Bxe5 32. Bxe5+ f6 33. Be4 Rd1+ 34. Kg2 fxe5 35. f3 g4 36. f4 Bf3+ 37. Bxf3 Rd2+ 38. Kf1 gxf3 39. fxe5 Rxh2 40. e6 f2 41. Rf7 Rxf7 42. exf7 Kg7 43. Nc8 Rh6 44. Kxf2 Kxf7 45. Kf3 Rc6 46. Na7 Rc4 47. b5 Ke6 48. Nc6 h5 49. b3 Rg4 50. b4 Kd6 51. Kf2 Kd5 52. Kf3 Rg7 53. Kf4
53…Kc4 0-1
Photos courtesy: Anna Shtourman / Lennart Ootes /FIDE (International Chess Federation)
Official Site: https://worldrapidandblitz2025.fide.com/
